We all perish someday. Our Earth remains. Life is short.
There are countless beautiful and eerie discoveries. Though we won't get to visit every place on this planet, we can still marvel at them—perhaps add a couple to our bucket list!
1. Boiling Amazonian River
📍 Central Peru, Amazon Forest
This natural phenomenon was discovered by geophysicist Andrés Ruzo back in 2011. The PhD student was initally ridiculed for bringing up subjects related to the matter but later set out on a journey to find The Boiling River. According to Ruzo, the temperatures did not reach 100°c but the peculiar waterway, located in Mayantuyacu, was still extremely dangerous and enough to scald.
Dipping my hand into the river would give me third-degree burns in less than half a second. Falling in could easily kill me.
The river initially posed compulsive questions among geoscientists regarding how the colossal stretch of water is heated without any active volcano in the vicinity.
Tip: Get special permission from the local shaman of Mayantuyacu town if you ever want to study this river.
2. Lake Hillier
📍 Middle Island, Western Australia
First discovered in 1802 by Matthew Flinders, an English explorer, the hue of pink bubble gum does not change when transferred elsewhere. Though it has extremely high salt content, it is still safe to hop on in and swim. If you wondered if there are fishes lurking in the pink waters, there are only microorganisms!
3. Cat Island
📍 Tashirojima, Japan
If you are a cat lover, you'd definitely fall in love in an instant! Alternatively, if you hate cats and associate them with annoying little devils, be warned, for you'll have no choice but to treat them as queens and kings. Due to Japanese folklore whereby cats are believed to be a symbol of good luck and carry protective powers, stray cats are generally fed and cared for well by the locals. Funnily enough, dogs are not allowed in this island. Currently the human population of the island is less than a hundred though thanks to the the clowders, tourism is on the rise.
4. The Land of Twins
📍 Cândido Godói, Brazil
Some speculate that a certain unknown type of mineral found in the rivers actually attributes to the town's high concentration of twins, and that it is not solely based on genetics.
There is also a theory that an escaped Nazi, Mengele, may have purposely experimented the breeding of these light hair and eye coloured twins. The said Nazi died in Brazil in 1979 and would perform monstrous experiments on twins at concentration camps, for the interests of Hitler towards the creation of a 'master' Aryan race.
Shivers...
5. Shimmering Shores
📍 Vaadhoo, Maldives
What you see in these waves are actually bioluminescent, marine phytoplanktons. These drifting microbes are the sneaky culprits behind the piercingly beautiful blue glow. Don't be fooled though! They don't glow all the time but only do so when stressed or moved and as a sort of defence mechanism. Yes, they value their lives too!
6. Jiangsu National Security Education Museum
📍 Nanjing, China
Believe it or not, this museum is out of bounds to foreigners. Only Chinese nationals are ever given the chance to step inside this highly secretive museum out of fear that the information of the Chinese Communist Party will be leaked out.
Inside contains propoganda such as warnings against threats by foreign spies and even encouraging the nationals to report such spies through a given hotline. Photography is strictly not allowed.
Imagine if a foreigner broke into this spy museum and revealed all these information. Whatever would be the consequeces? Who knows, maybe that person would be shot to death in an instant.
8. Suicide Forest
📍Aokigahara, Japan
This is the tragic reality. While Japan ranks third highest in terms of economy, there were 21,897 suicide cases last year. Many reportedly suffer from financial problems, mental health and family problems. In the forest are signs written in Japanese to discourage visitors from committing suicide such as
Let's think once more about the life you were given, your parents, your brothers and sisters, and children. Don't suffer alone first please contact somebody.
along with a suicide prevention hotline underneath.
Some have even reported sightings of ghosts in the forest. It is also very easy to get lost in the forest—also known as the Sea of Trees—which is why many visitors utilise tapes and threads to tie them to trees; as they venture deeper into the forest, they can find their way out later. No phone signal can be found within the Aokigahara forest and to make things creepier, a compass is likely to malfunction. Beware.
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